In recent years, several companies have stepped up to create small aircraft for urban transportation, rescue operations, cargo transportation, and other purposes.
One of these companies is Manta Aircraft, a Swiss company specializing in the development of advanced technological solutions based on multifunctional platforms for hybrid-electric flying vehicles. Its engineers are currently focusing on developing a flexible hybrid-electric canard aircraft design capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) or efficient short take-off and landing (STOL) operations.
“These aircraft can take-off and land vertically when needed, but also operate from very short airstrips (as short as three vertical landing pads in a row) with considerably higher payload. In practice, it can take off and land vertically like a helicopter, and fly horizontally like an airplane,” writes Manta Aircraft on its website.
The new prototype comes in two models: the ANN1 and ANN2. The first of them – ANN1 – is a single-seat plane, especially designed for the needs of sport aviation, featuring high speed and climb performance, with exceptional maneuverability. It is approximately 7 m (23.14 ft) long, 1.353 m (4.44 ft) high, and has a wingspan of 5.455 m (17.90 ft).
The ANN2 “Speeder” is a two-seat model for personal and air mobility with a wide regional range at high speed. Due to the larger space inside, its dimensions also differ from the smaller brother. It has an overall length of 8.700 m (28.54 ft), a height of 1.700 m (5.58 ft), and a wingspan of 6.800 m (22.31 ft). The ANN2 aircraft has eight propeller motors that power the batteries. Four of them, mounted on the wings, can change their position, which makes vertical take-off and flight in airplane mode possible.
Both models feature a hybrid propulsion system for longer durability and range. Although the entire system is fully electric, it also has a gas/fuel generator for longer-range missions. An airplane-like airframe – a carbon composite-bodied plane shape with a small V tail, a large reverse wing at the rear, and a smaller canard wing at the front – enables the prototypes to perform safely at higher speeds.
Manta Aircraft expects that such a device will travel up to 373 miles (600 km), cruising speed will reach over 186 mph (300 km/h). Interestingly, the aircraft’s batteries can also be charged while traveling.
The models can take off and land vertically and therefore require very little space – an existing helipad or half a tennis court is perfectly sufficient. Modular design allows quick disassembly and assembly for transportation and repair: Wing, Canard, Fuselage, Power Pack Unit.
The company created fully operational models of both aircraft variants on a smaller scale (one-third scale). They came for the first tests, combining the best features of a helicopter and an airplane.
